Japan's cabinet approves removal of South Korea from favored trade list
Japan’s cabinet approved a plan to remove South Korea from a list of countries that enjoy minimum export controls, a move likely to escalate tensions fueled by a dispute over compensation for wartime forced laborers.
The decision to drop South Korea from the “white list,” a step that has been protested fiercely by Seoul, comes a month after Japan tightened curbs on exports to South Korea of three high-tech materials needed to make memory chips and display panels.
The decision was approved by the cabinet and would take effect from Aug. 28, Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko told a briefing. Japan has previously cited what it says is South Korea’s insufficient export controls as the main impetus for the move. But Tokyo has also highlighted what it says is an erosion of trust after South Korean court rulings ordered Japanese firms compensate wartime forced laborers.
South Korea would be the first country to be removed from Japan’s white list, which currently has 27 countries including Germany, Britain and the United States. The measure could require South Korean exporters to take extra administrative procedures to obtain export licenses ... South Korean officials have warned they may reconsider an intelligence sharing accord with Japan if the feud worsens.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-japan-laborers/japans-cabinet-approves-removal-of-south-korea-from-favored-trade-list-idUSKCN1US03S
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